Captain’s Corner for August 29 Dave Zalewski 727 460-9893

On recent trips offshore to bottom fish in the 60 to 80 foot depths we have been pleasantly surprised by several different species. Yellowtail and Lane snapper have been almost a daily part of our catch when targeting red grouper over the flat “Swiss-cheese” bottom. Part of the success for catching these desirable species is the downsizing of tackle. To 2 hook dropper rigs with the sinker on the bottom and circle hooks no larger than 2/0. Both of these snapper have small mouths and require a hook much smaller than those employed for grouper. A strip of squid or a piece of sardine just large enough to hide the hook is our preferred bait.
Small mahi-mahi have shown up several times while we are bottom fishing. The key to catching them is to be prepared with a light spinning or bait casting rod with a 2/0 long shanked gold hook attached directly to the line. Chumming with very small slivers of sardine will keep them near the boat without feeding them to the point where they eat their fill and leave. It is exciting visual fishing when they show up and they will often hit the bare gold hook if it has been stripped of bait
Cobia have been also striking our bottom baits while bottom fishing with tightened down drags. If a cobia is hooked back off the drag so the fish has a chance to run and tire itself out. Smaller ones can be horsed to the boat, but large ones require a loosened drag to successfully bring them to gaff. The ones we have been catching have been in pairs with one large female and a smaller male. The second free swimming one can easily be hooked by placing almost any type of bait in front of it. Cobia have to be at least 33 inches minimum fork length.